


Sanctuary's Shore

by GuardianLioness



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, One Shot, Sora's Heart Hotel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-01 14:03:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16285967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuardianLioness/pseuds/GuardianLioness
Summary: Xion doesn't know where she is. She doesn't know why she still exists. She also doesn't know why she is face to face with someone that looks just like her best friend.





	Sanctuary's Shore

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the Kingdom Hearts [_Dearly Beloved_](https://kh15thfanzine.tumblr.com) zine!

He couldn’t be here. She’d made sure of that. They’d only just said goodbye, so why was he resting on the dunes, watching the waves?

 

Xion shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t be anywhere. She was supposed to disappear, to return to Sora, not find herself on a shore lit by stained-glass light. She wasn’t  _ gone.  _

 

Instead, she was face to face with the person she had tried to protect.

 

He watched her from afar, brushing strands of blond hair from his face as the sea breeze kicked up. His blue eyes narrowed, and his head tilted in her direction as he took a tentative step forward.

 

“Roxas?” The name tore from her throat before she could stop it, and the boy’s lip curled. Something inside Xion’s chest coiled around her ribs, squeezing the air from her lungs. 

 

“I’m not Roxas.”

 

It wasn’t him. How could it have been him? His voice wouldn’t,  _ couldn’t _ carry that level of emotion. No Nobody or puppet could be so expressive.

 

The tightness eased, and she fell to her knees. Heat pricked behind her eyes.

 

“And I’m guessing you’re not Kairi?”

 

Kairi. She knew that name, knew it from scattered reflections and hazy dreams. Kairi was precious to Sora. Far more precious than Xion would ever be to anyone. “No. I’m not.”

 

“Who are you, then?”

 

“They called me Xion.” She could still hear Axel saying it, his voice ringing out and lingering just a moment too long. “But I’m just a puppet, so they shouldn’t have called me anything.”

 

The boy’s face crumpled. “What do you mean?”

  
  


“I don’t have a heart. Why should I have a name?”

 

He knelt next to her in the sand, the harshness of his gaze softening. “You know that if you didn’t have a heart, you wouldn’t be here, right? It’s a sanctuary, a place for hearts with nowhere left to go.”

 

Xion hugged her knees to her chest, turning away from him and towards the sea. Even if he wasn’t Roxas, she didn’t want to look at him. He made her vision swim and brought back the weight in her chest.

 

“I was created from Sora’s memories. I’m not real.”

 

“What did you do with those memories?” The sharp edge faded entirely from his voice, and he dug his fingers into the sand. “Before you came here, I mean. Did you use them? Did you talk to people? Make friends? That’s what hearts are for. Memories only help them grow.”

 

She didn’t answer, and the boy hummed out a sigh. “Don’t worry. You’re not the first one to show up here, and I’m pretty sure Sora won’t mind.”

 

“He won’t?” She’d stolen his memories and kept him asleep for so long. Sora would overlook that?

 

“No.” The boy let sand run through his hands. “He saved me, gave me a second chance when I needed it the most. I don’t see why he wouldn’t do the same for you.” Settling himself on the ground, he smiled at the dusky horizon. “I’m going back to my friends one day, but you’re welcome to wait with me in the meantime.”

 

Xion couldn’t breathe again, the squeezing clawing at her, but it didn’t press the same way. It didn’t hurt as much. “I won’t get a second chance. My time is over. But if Sora doesn’t mind, and if it’s okay with you, I could use somewhere to rest.”

 

“Fine by me.” His grin settled on her, and something else pulled in her chest, something kind and fierce in equal measure. “I’m Ventus. It’s good to meet you, Xion.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> You can catch me on Tumblr at [GuardianLioness!](http://guardianlioness.tumblr.com)


End file.
